


see

by WattStalf



Series: Femslash February 2017 [17]
Category: Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Femslash February, Polyamory, and then not?, idk - Freeform, idk what the fuck this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-21 05:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9534353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: He doesn't see either of them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I had no idea where I was going with this, from start to finish. This idea probably deserved something longer and more fleshed-out, but here I am.

Janey isn’t so sure about the arrangement, even though Jon says that there isn’t anything for her to worry about. He says that about a lot of things, but she worries anyway. After all, he sees more than he lets on, never warning her, always letting things follow their natural course.

But she’s more scared of losing him than she realizes. Once, she had it in her mind that she didn’t need anyone else, that she would be fine if she were always on her own, but then Jon stole her heart. And then he was gone, and she mourned him and did her best to move on, and again, she thought that she would be fine on her own. Until he came back, against all odds, and though he came back different, she didn’t want to be the one to turn him away after the accident.

Now, she doesn’t know how to feel about him. He really is like an entirely different person, but sometimes there are flashes of the Jon she loved, and she feels guilty for ever considering leaving him. She is more afraid of losing him than she realizes, and that is why she stays by his side even when she is unsure of things.

But now, there is another woman entering their life together, and she is  _ very _ unsure about that. She doesn’t like to think about him with anyone else, least of all someone so young, least of all under their roof, while she’s right there, completely aware of it. Cheating on her is one thing, but this...this isn’t something she can completely wrap her head around.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he tells her. “This arrangement makes the most sense.” He goes on to explain things in a way that does not make it any easier, citing times when it was more common, and expressing a desire for her and Laurie to get along as something more than two women sharing a lover.

It takes all she has not to snap at him, telling him that he should be able to tell that it’s not going to work out. He should be able to look into their future and know that she’ll never be like...like  _ that _ , not with another woman, not with some kid. The best he can hope for is for her to share, and somehow, he talks her into it, but still, she is unsure.

~X~

Laurie is intimidated by Janey Slater, but she’s sure that anyone in her position would be. The older woman is so much  _ more _ than she is; she’s intelligent and successful, and makes someone like Laurie- a girl who runs around in a skimpy costume designed by her own mother- look like the child she is. Not to mention the fact that she is the advantage of having known Dr. Manhattan longer, of having known him even back when he was still just Jon.

But Laurie is not allowing her intimidation to stop her from going through with this. Even if she isn’t sure if she can live up to the standards set by the other woman, and even if she isn’t sure if she’s even welcome there, she isn’t going to let this opportunity pass her by. To someone like her, this seems so exotic and so modern and so very sure to piss her mother off. After having her entire life hand-picked for her, this act of rebellion has to be big enough to really make a statement.

She accepts the offer to go live with them, packing up and moving out while her mother tells her that she’s making a big mistake. Something about how a man like that, who is barely even a man, can’t be trusted, and how  _ no _ man can actually hope to keep two women pleased at the same time. Laurie ignores it all, determined to prove her mother wrong and determined to prove that she can live without having someone else making her decisions for her.

“Even if I’m making a mistake, it’s  _ my _ mistake to live with!” is the last thing that she says.

~X~

At first, Janey is certain that she’s right about everything. Jon does what he can to “balance” his time, but there is nothing that can make her feel better when she knows that he and that  _ kid _ are together in the next room, or alone at home together while she works. There is nothing that can make her feel better when she has a constant sense that she’s going to be replaced at any moment.

The worst is when she and Laurie are left alone together and she’s forced to be civil with the girl. Because, of  _ course _ , Laurie sucks up to her, always with her “pleases” and “thank yous” and “is there anything you need help withs”. She’s so goddamn  _ polite _ , which is hilarious because Janey’s seen her with Jon and she’s seen her in costume, and she knows the girl has a foul mouth and a bad attitude, that this side to her must be artificial.

But she has to be civil, so she plays as nice as she can right back.

~X~

The first time they have a threesome, Laurie is hopeful. She doesn’t know why Jon has steadily become more distant, or if he does the same with Janey, but with the two of them there to keep him busy, he’ll have to be more involved. He’ll have to have that same spark to him that he had in the beginning, and everything will be okay.

Except his eyes are still somehow more vacant, and everything he does feels rehearsed and detached, and she wants him to really  _ look  _ at her again, to look at both of them if he has to, and that is why she kisses Janey. And Janey kisses her back, and Jon watches the two of them together, and all Laurie can think about is how radiant the other woman looks, bathed in the faint blue light.

~X~

After making love to Laurie for the first time, Janey isn’t sure how to face the girl. It was never her intention to go through with something like that and yet…

And yet the memory of her face, so innocent and eager one moment, turning fierce and knowing the next, haunts her. The memory of the touch, so much more involved than anything she has felt in years, haunts her, and she thinks that she should make a fresh effort to get along with Laurie.

~X~

Jon is taken with worlds that they can’t see, but Laurie is right in front of him, and Janey is right in front of him. She decides it’s only natural that they one day look to the one standing beside them. He always said he wanted them to learn to care for each other, and now they are learning. Slowly, but at their own pace, and when he leaves them alone so often, they have so much time to learn.

~X~

One day, she thinks, the two of them should just leave together. Would he even notice? She was once so scared of losing him that she would have gone along with anything, but now she knows, she lost him long before she ever agreed to let Laurie come into their lives. But she found Laurie, and she wouldn’t have ever thought to look otherwise.

If the two of them left together, would he even notice? Would she mind either way? Janey realizes that Jon is not the only one who has changed, and she barely recognizes herself any more than she recognizes him.

~X~

“I think I might love you,” Laurie confesses, cursing how unsure she sounds as she says it. But the older woman only smiles, taking her hands and nodding.

“I understand,” she replies, and there is none of the harshness to her face that Laurie remembers for their early days together. “I understand exactly how you feel.”

For a moment, Laurie thinks of her mother, and how this all began, but she shakes her head. This isn’t like that at all, not anymore. She doesn’t care if this pisses her off or not, and she doesn’t care about what she thinks anymore. And she certainly isn’t looking for someone to fill any empty roles; she just wants to be with someone who sees her for who she is, just once.

~X~

Once she had it in her mind that she didn’t need anyone else, and maybe if she had never met Jon, it would have stayed that way. But it didn’t, and it isn’t, and now she knows that she needs Laurie by her side, to remind her that there is someone there who sees her.


End file.
